Survival of the Fittest
by The77thMaverick
Summary: With the ghosts of his past weighing heavily on his shoulders, Dom makes his way to The Capital Wasteland looking to start a fresh life. Just as he arrives however, forces wishing to control the wasteland set thier plans in motion. All the while a demon escapes from Vault 101.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: This is my second attempt at my first fan fic, so expect terrible writing.**

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Dom slashed at the air, just awaking from a nightmare. He breathed heavily, feeling as though he had spent a great deal of time running. Wiping the sweat that had accumulated on his forehead, he looked at his surroundings. His shelter for that night consisted of a rusting Pre-War semi. Rigged holes signaling where disrepair and the harsh enviroment were taking their toll.

He stood up, standing on the mattress that provided comfort for the night. It was stained with blood, no doubt belonging to a previous traveler. Despite this morbid fact, it was a more welcoming choice than the cold metal.

In the corner lay Dom's equipment. His hunting rifle, 10mm pistol, hat, and sunglasses were put out of sight but close enough to find in case he needed to leave in a hurry. With his 10mm in his holster, rifle on his back, and now wearing his hat and glasses, he stepped out.

In the distance he could see the remnants of a church. Either belonging to a group of raiders or Super Mutants. Looking left, he saw the road he had traveled on for five days. As Dom stared at the long road, he began to recall the nightmare that plauged him the previous night.

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_There was a sudden explosion outside his meager home, followed by the gutted screams of those caught by it. Dom arose, still half dazed from sleeping. As he looked out the window, his wife called to him._

_"What is it?" She asked, looking under their bed for her pistol._

_People were franticaly running. As Dom watched, a cluster of people were blasted away by the explosion of a grenade. Stepping back from the window and closer to the bed, he grabbed his rifle._

_"Grab what you can, we're leaving, now!" He hurriedly put on his Merc Grunt clothing. As he put on his last boot, his wife pulled from the bed a 10mm pistol, and put on a pair of sunglasses that sat on the table beside her. _

_Before they could leave the room, the windowed wall suddenly exploded in a mass of debris, sending Dom through the air. Landing in the the bathroom, he slumped awkwardly over the toilet. Coming to, he beckoned to his wife, rising from his hunched posistion._

_"Sarah, are you hurt?" Hearing no answer, he called for her again._

_"Sarah, are you okay?" Fear overwhelming him, Dom slowly walked back into their room, ignoring the horrific scene that was now fully visible without the wall. "Sarah?" He whispered. In the corner laid his dear Sarah, buried under rubble with only her head visible. Eyes forever staring at the carnage that unfolded outside._

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Coming back to reality, he took off his sunglasses which were already becoming grimy from the wasteland air. Rubbing each lens with his finger, Dom couldn't help but to think of her. Brown hair that went just past her shoulders, eyes of the same color that he could stare into for days on end. When she smiled, it seemed the whole world would stop to see. Sarah was his life, making him feel as though the savage world they lived in was not as horrid as it seemed. Holding her at night gave him enough strength to make it through the next day, though he would stop in occcasionaly during the day to gather more strength.

With the sun peaking over the horizon, Dom put the now cleaned glasses over his eyes, and set off. After two hours of uneventful walking, he could see buildings in the distance. Relieved, he increased his pace to a jog. As he drew closer, Dom could see that the buildings formed into a small city block. While all were in mediocre condition, they looked as though they could still harbor life inside their brick and steel walls.

Just off the road, Dom saw that one building was just outside the contangent of the others. It was surrounded by a ten foot fence, with a handfull of trucks just inside the gate. Upon closer inspection, Dom could see the trucks were painted green with a white star on each door. Unbeknowist to him, these were infrantry vehicles before the Great War, taking supplies and men to where ever they were needed. The building itself looked to be in much better condition than the others, though from his view it looked to be built mostly from steel. Feeling as though he was being watched, he walked on into the city block.

As he made his way through the block, Dom could tell there was something wrong with this place. Buildings were boarded up, allowing no one passage inside. To his left, what looked to be an apartment was stained with unintelligible writing, though his mind pondered what each message said. As he read each one, trying to figure out what they said, Dom caught a wiff of a vulger odor. He looked ahead, eyes locked onto a lightpole.

Hanging from it was a decomposing corpse, only having one leg, emptiness took the place of the other. Working his eyes up, Dom saw that the forearms were cut clean off, which might have been a torture precedure. The head was nowhere to be seen, a rusty meat hook rammed inside, poking through the chest. Knowing this to be the hany work of raiders, Dom pulled out his rifle and crashed behind the cover of a car.

As he looked for any signs of movement, Dom saw that the road split into four lanes. Looking left, he saw a concrete stairway, cutting one way then back the other. Straight ahead, the road was blocked by wooden barricades, only a small space left big enough for one man to get through. Dom quickly rejected going straight forward, thinking it to be a trap. To his right, the road led to nowhere, it being swallowed by the wasteland. The last route being the one that had brought him here. Looking over his options, he looked at the stairway again. Seeing it as the only way forward, Dom reasoned it could take him around the raiders main hub. He silently made his way to it, watching for any signs of movement.

He was now at the bottom of the steps, careful not to make a sound as he worked his way up. Once making it to the top, Dom saw it lead to an alleyway. Thinking it would lead him away from danger, he began to go through. At the end of it, Dom saw a crumbling building, a doorway leading back to the road. With no danger in sight, he increased his pace to slight jog. Within twenty yards of the building, a figure popped out of the top floor, causing Dom to go stiff. The silhouete turned his way, and before it could scream, a bullet was put between its eyes. Dom pulled the bolt back, emptying the spent shell. As he push the bolt forward, he could here the taunting of raiders in the distance.

Making a dash to the building, Dom could hear the sounds of the raiders grow louder. As he drew closer to the building, the alleyway opened up to the right, revealing there to be several raiders armed with automatic rifles. They opened fire, Dom making it inside before he could be hit. Running through the building, Dom made it to the other side, feet hitting the concrete road. Glancing right, he saw a raider armed with a bazooka, aiming right at him. Dom quickly moved, but the raider fired his projectile, hitting where Dom origionally stood. Being sent through the air, Dom's last thought before going unconcious was of his departed Sarah.

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**A/N: Thank you for reading, and if you would please leave a review I would greatly appreciate it. Constructive criticism is always good, as it can only help. I'm not sure when the second chapter will be up, so keep your eyes peeled.**


	2. Chapter 2

_Time seemed to be frozen in place. Dom inched slowly to where his wife lay, buried under the debris from the blown out wall. Her unblinking eyes staring at the carnage that unfolded outside. He dropped to his knees, cupping her face in his hands. He wiped away the blood that masked her features, tears running down his own. Once finished, Dom placed a kiss on her forehead. _

_"I'm sorry," he whispered, closing her eyes. _

_Tears now uncontrollably rolling down his face, Dom looked at their bed and back at her. As delicately as he could, Dom pulled the mess off of her. With each brick he threw away, more of Sarah's mangled body came into view. With the last of the pile off her, Dom placed her on the bed, arms folded over her chest. Hearing the slaughter outside turn into a full blown battle, he began packing his gear._

_Grabbing his rifle, Dom was taken back by what he saw. On the ground beside the table laid Sarah's 10mm pistol with her sunglasses neatly on top. Seeing this as her final gift to him, he held the glasses as if any amount of pressure would cause them to snap. He gently put them on, the world growing a bit dim as he did. He then picked up her pistol, checking to make sure there was ammo in the clip. Seeing that the clip was full, he placed it back in the weapon._

_He gazed at his Sarah, feeling another wave of tears fill his eyes. Even in death, she looked as beautiful as she did when Dom first laid eyes on her. As Dom slipped into his memories, a man weilding a battered baton came through the crater that use to be a wall, looking to take his victim by surprise. Dom turned and before he could react, the man swung, connecting with the left side of Dom's head._

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"Wake up! I think you've slept long enough."

Dom could feel the pain travel from his face to the rest of his head. He opened his eyes, vision blurry from the force behind the baton. Taking in his surroundings, Dom first took note of how dark it was. Though his vision was blurred, Dom knew he was not outside, neither the crickets or wind could be heard. In there place was the erie moan of steel tunnels under the earth. He was in a subway station.

Hands bound by handcuffs running through a pipe in the wall, Dom had nowhere to move. Though his legs were free and he was standing, Dom was to weak to use them for anything else. He was hit with the baton again, causing him to spit blood. This amused his captor.

"Haha, what's the matter? Can't take a hit from a wee little stick?" Taunted the raider.

Dom spat out more blood," Having fun?" He asked. The baton then crashed into one of his ribs, causing him to lose his breath.

"The time of my fucking life." Said the raider as he walked over and sat in a chair. Watching Dom struggle for air, he let out a dry laugh.

"Damn, we haven't even started the really fun stuff yet and you're already winded."

He picked up a ripper from a nearby table, tauntingly waving it around. Getting up from his seat, the raider started it up, inches from Dom's head. As blood flew from the vicious weapon onto his face, Dom wondered if the person hanging from the lightpole suffered the same fate. Thinking of the missings leg and forearms, he decided it was very plausable. The raider stopped the hazing, turning back to his seat.

He sat down, switiching the ripper for Dom's sunglasses. Seeing his captor handle them, Dom went ballistic, trying to rip the handcuffs from the pipe. The raider laughed, twirling the glasses hoping to get a stronger reaction from his captive. Dom hurled insults and threats as he pulled, his wrists bleeding from steel entering flesh. The raider was now doubled over, out of breath from laughing so much. As he caught his breath, he rose up and gave Dom an impish grin. He walked over to the table, setting the glasses on it and grabbing the ripper. Realizing what he was doing, Dom went into a hulkish state, pulling at his binds while threatening the most gruesome deaths even the raider never thoughth of.

A sudden snap could be heard. Dom was now hurdling toward his captor, consumed by a blind rage. Before the raider could react, Dom was now on top of him, grappling for control of the ripper. Both men had both hands on the savage weapon, using brute strength to finish the other. Holding the superior position, Dom slowly overpowered his opponent, the ripper inching closer to the raiders throat. As the first cuts were made, the raider let out a howl, which turned into a disturbing gurgle of blood as the weapon dug deeper into his neck. With a final thrust, Dom decapitated him, his face forever contorted into a pained expression.

Dom stood up, taking a second to process what happened. Looking at the fresh corpse, he realized he was still holding the whirling ripper, bits of blood and flesh still flying from it. Shutting it off, he walked over to the table. Laying the weapon on it, Dom picked up his sunglasses, cleaning them of blood. Looking for the rest of his equipment, he saw his gear pushed under a bed on the opposite side of the subway station. Making his way to the other end, Dom pondered why no other raiders were in the vicinity. Not wanting to look a gift horse in the mouth, he accepted it as a stoke of luck.

With his equipment now settled in their proper posistions, Dom walked up the broken down esculators, careful not to make to much noise. Hearing a drip, he looked at his wrists, the cuffs still dug into the skin. As careful as he could, he slowly pulled them out, using the blood to slip them off his hands. Injecting half a stimpak into each wrist, he gritted his teeth as the wounds slowly stitched back to normal. He moved them around, testing the handywork of the injection. Once satisfied, he made his way out to the unforgiving land, the sun scorching the dry earth.

With no one in sight, Dom bolted down the road, his feet burning from the sizzling concrete. The road curled up over a hill, forcing him to use his hands to make it to the top. As he reached the tallest point, Dom looked over the horizon. Not far in the distance he could see what looked to be a metal fort. Upon closer inspection, Dom thought he could see a tiny caravan making its way there. Feeling it to be a safe bet, he made his way to the crude looking town, hoping this one would be friendly.

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**A/N: Really feel like I should have finished this a few days ago, though a case of writers block left me sidelined for awhile. **

**Thanks for reading, and thanks to Stelm for the review. Any are appreciated!**


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